Damarious Randall's Release By Raiders Not Be a Surprise

Seemingly a surprise to some covering the team, the Las Vegas Raiders released former Cleveland Browns safety Damarious Randall. Given the issues he had in Cleveland, it shouldn't be.

The Las Vegas Raiders announced the release of Damarious Randall, who was signed in the offseason and pegged to be a starter in their secondary. The release was met with surprise from many sectors, but it shouldn't because Randall refuses to get out of his own way.

Randall's issues aren't due to a lack of talent. They are due to his personality and football character. When the Browns acquired him ahead of the 2018 season, he was a breath of fresh air in their defense, looking really good at the free safety position. Along with Jabrill Peppers and echoed by coach Gregg Williams, Randall helped instill an attitude that they weren't respected. It worked that year.

After that season, Randall was negotiating a long term deal with the Browns, but his demands were sky high, believing he should be paid as one of the top safeties in the entire league. Despite the fact he was earning $9 million in 2019 due to his fifth year option, Randall allowed the failed negotiations to bleed onto the field.

There were countless times that Randall looked disinterested in playing. After a season of playing through injuries to soldier on to play and produce for the Browns, he looked like he quit at times in 2019.

Not only was he a disappointment on the field, but he was a headache off of it. He was an issue in the locker room in a year where the Browns were beset by problems there, helping to make the team easy to dislike. It was bad enough at one point where the Browns effectively grounded him for their road game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, leaving him in Cleveland for the game.

Randall signed with the Raiders, but he was an afterthought. His contract wasn't nothing, but it wasn't anywhere the money he thought he was worth. He may well have been one of their best safeties on the field, but if he wasn't a good fit in the locker room, it's not a surprise that the Raiders would get rid of him.

Seemingly a player stuck in grievances, Randall's been unable or unwilling to move on and live in the moment, stuck worrying about how things didn't work out in the past.